41-5920 – P-47B

  41-5920 was recovered by Randy Ferris from a swamp in the southeast and is in storage for eventual restoration.

41-6001 – P-47B

41-5999 – P-47B

Used by the 56th FG during the second half of 1942, they were sent back to get updates at the Republic plant and typically only stayed in the squadron for a few weeks. This aircraft was delivered to the 61st FS at Bridgeport on 21 Aug 1942, this Thunderbolt was destroyed in a fatal crash [...]

51-9394 – F-84F-25-GK – Thunderstreak

  52-6544 F-84F-40-RE Thunderstreak 51-9394 F-84F-25-GK 169 TFW ILL ANG

52-6544 – F-84F-40-RE – Thunderstreak

  52-6544 F-84F-40-RE Thunderstreak 51-9394 F-84F-25-GK 169 TFW ILL ANG

44-40395 – B-24J-160-CO Liberator

A Consolidated B-24 Of The 43Rd Bomb Group In Flight In The Vicinity Of New Guinea.  

44-35663 – A-26C-45-DT Invader

Unknown Photographer 35663 converted to B-26B. Sent to Vietnam Jan 1963. Transferred to Taiwan. Scrapped at Clark Field Apr 1964.

Picture of the week photos wanted!

  Do you think your photo is great? Well then submit it and get it on our Picture of the Week portion of our website and let thousands see your cool shot! Submit up your photo and details of it here! Hope to see your photos!

41-18649 – C-47-DL

41-18649 Douglas C-47-DL ((c/n 6010) to USAAF Oct 31, 1942 – 5th AF, Australia Jan 12, 1943, operated as VHCHB. To civil registry as VH-CDH (ANA Feb 25, 1945),   VH-ANS (ANA Mangana May 22, 1946 – GuineaAirways Salamaua Dec 15, 1953), VH-GAJ (Rr Aug 1958), VH-ANS (Returned to ANA Jan 25, 1960 – Airlines [...]

42-23615 – C-47A-30-DL

    Ambulances from the 36th Evacuation Hospital at Hollandia bring litter and walking cases to Douglas C-47′s to be evacuated by air to Lae and Nadzab, New Guinea.                    

44-23314 – P-38J-20-LO – “Ski Doo”

  History: Delivered to USAAF as 44-23314, 19??. Hancock Field School of Aeronautics, Santa Monica, CA, September 1945-1954. – Instructional Airframe. Jack P. Hardwick, El Monte CA, April 1954-1959. – Registered as N29Q. – Open Storage, Lavern-Brackett Field, CA. Ed Maloney/The Air Museum, Claremont (later Ontario then Chino), CA, December 1959-1987. – Airworthy, 1961. – [...]

44-73656 – P-51D-25-NA – “Minuteman” and “MoonbeamMcSwine”

History / Previous Identities: 1944: Oct – Manufactured at Inglewood, Ca 1945: Mar 29 – Accepted by USAAF, via Newark NJ shipping dock to USAAF depot in Great Britain. Not assigned 1945: July – returned to USAAF depot, Newark NJ 1947: Mar 31 – to TX ANG, 182nd FS, Brooks AFB, San Antonio 1950: Nov [...]

Jeff Harris of P-38 Chino Fame, Passes Away today.

Just finding out that we lost a great pilot today. Jeff Harris from Chino, and famous for flying the P-38, passed away today unexpectedly. No aircraft were involved, I have no details other than we lost a great pilot. R.I.P. Jeff.

Another Attack! – KILLED!

Yes, Warbird-Central.com has been a victim once again of a server attack. This time, I have isolated it, so nothing has crashed.   Found it today it as a plugin called Akismet   Anyone using it, remove it now! It is Injecting redirection code into your site! Thanks everyone for your support!   Paul Krumrei [...]

FIFI Fixed, Flying Again

The world’s only flying Superfortress, FIFI, is flying again following extensive repairs to its No. 2 engine. January 31, 2013 - FIFI, the Commemorative Air Force’s (CAF) Boeing B-29 Superfortress, flew for the first time in three months on January 13 following extensive repairs to its No. 2 engine. After a short maintenance flight out of Midland, Texas, [...]

Lancaster repair costs soar, warplane museum appeals for help

By Ian Johnson, CBC News Hamilton’s Mynarski Memorial Avro Lancaster Mk X bomber needs all four engines overhauled, at a cost of roughly $500,000. (Ian Johnson, CBC) Hamilton’s warplane museum is making a public plea for donations to help keep its famous World War II Lancaster bomber flying. “We expect the Lancaster to be flying at [...]

57-0246 – F-106A-64-CO – Delta dart

  57-0246 F-106A-64-CO EDelta dart 186 FIS 120 FIG MT ANG Oct 25 1983 Kowalzyck

54-0172 – C-121C

At Chanute AFB 1965 Photo Credit: Stephen Miller

54-0169 – C121C

54-0168 – C-121C

HQ National Guard Bureau at Andrews AFB 28 March 1970 Photo Credit: Stephen Miller  

54-0155 – EC-121S

EC-121 at the Harrisburg International Airport 20 December 1975   Photo Credits from R.Ray Leader

Carl Skinner Company Joins Warbird Central as Sponsor!

We are happy to announce another GREAT Sponsor of the website that joins us in supporting the preservation of Aircraft History! Carl Skinner Company of Ventura California. A great supplier of Curtis-Wright Engine parts! Visit them today at http://www.carlskinnerco.com/   Watch for upcoming advertisements and banners on our site soon!   Thanks to Carl Skinner Company for [...]

44-85790 – B-17G-105-VE – “Lacey Lady”

    This B-17G, the “Lacey Lady”, was a surplus plane built by Lockheed at the Vega plant in Burbank California. She has the lowest air time of any B-17 in existence. She has stood as an icon, since 1947, on McLoughlin Blvd. Although the B-17s were amazing to their crew as a “Flying Fortress”, [...]

44-14337 – P-51D – “Gentle Annie”

Taken at Bottisham,Cambridgeshire,England Aircraft from nearest to farthest: (MC-R) “Gentle Annie” from the 79th FS, 20th FG was assigned to Col. Harold J. Rau. P-51D-10-NA Mustang, s/n 44-14337 (PE-X) “Straw Boss 2″ from the 328th FS, 352nd FG was assigned to LtC. James D. Mayden. P-51D-10-NA Mustang, s/n 44-14111 (LM-S) from the 62nd FS, 56th [...]

51-1893 – RF-84F-10-RE – Thunderflash

51-1893 RF-84F-10-RE Thunderflash 184 TRS 188 TRG AR ANG no date

53-7599 – RF-84F-40-RE – Thunderflash

53-7599 RF-84F-40-RE Thunderflash 155 TRS 164 TRG TN ANG no date

52-9683 T-33A-1-LO

  52-9683 T-33A-1-LO T’bird MICH ANG Wayne County Airport, Michigan no date

44-63650 – F-51D-20-NA

  44-63650 F-51D-20-NA Mustang 110 FS MO ANG No other information

42-47591 – PT-23

She started life as PT-23 42-47591 Mfr’s # 2403 AE(meaning she was built by Aeronca) at a delivered cost of $8,597.00. Delivered on 4-13-43, she was one of a batch of 26 that served with the 70th AAFFTD at Lafayette, LA. Operators: James P. Wilmot and Ray Hylan opened summer 1942. No mishaps were recorded [...]

FM213 – Avro Lancaster

    The CWHM Lancaster X FM213 was built in July 1945 as one of the last batch off the production line, before production stopped at FM229 in August 1945. FM213 was known as a rogue or jinxed aircraft on the assembly line, according to Ken Allen of Wardair, as there was always some snag [...]

Warbird Central welcomes the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum

We want to introduce another great sponsor of the Warbird-Central.com site, Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. A collection of over forty aircraft has grown through the friendship of Dennis J. Bradley and Alan Ness. Their love of aviation and their desire to maintain and preserve Canada’s aviation history saw restoration projects that were not only great [...]

42-67816 – P-38J-10-LO Lightning – “Princess Pat”

  “Princess Pat” (CL-P) P-38J-10-LO Lightning s/n 42-67816 338th Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force. Assigned to Maj. Chester A. Patterson. It was shot down (believed to be by AAA) on Feb. 10,1944 while being flown by 2nd Lt. Jack R. Foster (O-754489),he became a POW. MACR 2148

43-37837 – B-17G-70-BO Flying Fortress – “Stag Party”

1st Lt. Philip Lichty and crew 422nd Bomb Squadron, 305th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force Lt. Lichty and crew (flying different aircraft than in photo) were killed in a mid-air collision due to a heavy overcast over Thurleigh,England on October 22,1944. After returning from a mission to Hanover,Germany they collided with a B-17 from another [...]

52-6616 – F-84F-40-RE Thunderstreak

52-6616 F-84F-40-RE Thunderstreak 131 TFW MO ANG no date   Photo from John Lozon

Picture of the Week

80483 – F7F-3 Tigercat “Bad Kitty” Photo by Al Sauer Callsign “SpookytheCat”

Cockpit360 By AeroCapture Images

Paul Krumrei from Warbird Central here folks. With the experience and knowledge that I have of aircraft, I highly recommend this App for your iPad or iPhone. The photos are unreal! You can see everything as if you were sitting right there in the aircraft! I got mine, get yours today! You will love it! [...]

Donations needed for L-17 restoration!

Please spread the word for me. We are trying to raise some money to get this bird back in the air! From Amy Lauria of the Southern Minnesota Wing of the CAF, The Commemorative Air Force Minnesota Wing is looking to raise money for our newest restoration project- our Ryan L-17 Navion. We have an [...]

I’m Back!!! Warbird-Central.com Re-Opens the door!

Hey all,   Due to some major issues with the Locator site, I am reactivating the Warbird-Central.com website!   The site will be up for a long period of time, so if you have some photos or info to help update her, please feel free to fire away e-mails to Paul@Warbird-Central.com     Tally Ho! [...]

42-97849 – B-17G “Liberty Belle”

  Aircraft: B-17G Location: AirVentureOshkosh 2005   Photographer: Paul Krumrei Registration Info: USAAF Serial# 42-97849 History: The Liberty Foundation’s B-17G (SN 44-85734) has an interesting post-war history. Originally sold on June 25, 1947 as scrap to Esperado Mining Co. of Altus, OK, it sold again later that year to Pratt & Whitney for $2,700. Pratt & [...]

65-0774 – F-4D-29-MC

  171 FIS 191 FIG MI ANG Phil Colin col.

44-11675 – P-51K

  P-51K Mustang (s/n 44-11675) from 82nd FS, 78th FG, 8th AF. Crash-landed on February 11,1945 while being piloted by Lt. Harry L. Roe.

42-50768 – B-24J – “Arise My Lovely and Come With Me”

  This crew of a B-24 Liberator is shown just after landing in England from a mission over Germany. Some of the crew are just too tired to stand, and talk over the mission lying down beside the plane.

42-96154 – B-26B-55-MA – “Little Lady”

    Martin B-26 (A/C 296154) Of The 397Th Bomb Group Crash-Landed On 24 February 1945 At The 410Th Bomb Group Base In France. X2-0 596th BS LITTLE LADY, Bretigny, France, Crash Landed Pilot George R Brendle, Looks like 97 Combat Missions on her. INFO from Paul Clouting/Historian (B Connolly)

41-31813 – B-26

Here Are The Martin B-26 Marauders Goatee Hell And Marty Marauder After A Freak Landing Accident Caused Their Collision. When Inspectors Condemned Both Planes As Unfit For Further Service, Boys Of Ninth Air Force Service Group Volunteered To Donate Thei

42-49805 – PT-23

    Chris Davis Photo Fairchild PT-23-SL Army SN: 42-49805 N64097

Spitfire MK XI “Punkin II” – UNKNOWN SERIAL#

That is Lt Arthur K Leatherwood on the left and Lt John S Blyth on the right. They were with the 14th Squadron of the 7th Photo Group based at Mt Farm, Oxfordshire, UK. The photo is from 1944 and I don’t know the serial number of the A/C.  Leatherwood passed away on August 29, [...]

Junkers Ju-290A-5 “Alles Kaput”

Wright Field October 1945. Photographer: Bill Larkins History: When they did scrap the aircraft in December 1946, they found an explosive charge in one of the wings! Luckily, the detonator was defective and had failed to fire the charge.

47-1308 – L-17C

L-17A converted from an A to a C by Ryan Aircraft, manufacturer of the L-17B. At Oakland in March 1952 Photographer: Bill Larkins

42-26466 – P-47D

  56th Fighter Group in Action

AT-6F – TA-537 (N767WB – C/N 121-42537)

North American AT-6F Texan Oklahoma City – Wiley Post (PWA) USA – Oklahoma, December 23, 2003 Remark Photographer  Jarrod Wilkening N767WB (cn 121-42537)